SANDY, Utah — Four months ago, Jacob Worch would've never thought he'd spend every holiday from Veteran's Day to Valentine's Day in the hospital.
"I actually turned 24 in the hospital; they told me my leg had to be amputated the day before my birthday," Worch said.
He's now out of the hospital, in a new home to accommodate his new needs after his life changed forever. Worch was hit by a van while riding his motorcycle near 9000 South and Monroe Street in Sandy during his lunch break on Nov. 9.
"I maybe had like 50-60 feet before, to react to this car barreling towards me," Worch recalled. "I only had a couple ways to go. I had right and I had left. To the right side, there was a car behind me and I would've been smooshed between the two cars; to the left, there was a median."
Worch says he got as close to the median as possible, but his right leg couldn't be protected.
"Part of my kneecap shattered," Worch said. "My femur — the big bone in my thigh — was fractured basically in half, then I had a dislocation at my ankle where my tibia and fibula met the ankle."
He initially thought the crash was an accident, then as police and first responders started talking, he thought there had to be more to the story. He later found out the crash was part of a series of events that unfolded that day, starting when officials said a 16-year-old allegedly stole a U.S. Army Van from a recruiting station. Later that morning, Sandy Police tried to stop the driver, but officials said he made a U-turn and drove into oncoming traffic, hitting Worch. The 16-year-old suspect was later shot by an officer and died at the hospital. The officer involved is still on leave.
"There's a lot of frustration and anger towards other people involved because I didn't take any direct action to cause this because I was just a bystander — I was just an innocent person involved," Worch said.
Despite his frustration, Worch still has an undeniable sense of humor that's helping him through his recovery.
"As long as I can get an artificial limb from what I was told things will go back to 70-80% back to what was normal for me after I learn how to use it, so my outlook is I can go back to most of what I was doing prior to the crash," Worch said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Worch with his medical expenses.
